The Triumph of the Commons

The title of this piece comes from a brilliant article from Kevin Kelly's New Rules for the New Economy. He touches a very valid and important point.

The New Economy is being born before our very eyes. The upheaval and chaos of the markets is connected to it. We are entering into a global, wired, agile economy and the old one has to go.

We are moving into a new economy with new rules. Those who figure out those rules will thrive. The rules aren't completely known yet but we know it's built on "attention, community, standards, and shared intelligence."

But something else is happening.

The world is changing. Iranians tweet to organize demonstrations. Palestinian youths blog about peace with Israel. Everywhere we are seeing a change. Our global cultures are meeting online and intermingling.

Some are using the internet to spread hatred, bigotry, small mindedness and idolatry, but I really don't want to make this post about Glenn Beck. Human nature has a dark side. Always has and always will.  But that doesn't apply to everyone online.

Many are sharing and listening. We are exchanging ideas, beliefs, fears, loves, hopes, dreams and we are coming to realize that we really aren't so different.

I don't pretend that we will ever achieve world peace, but I know that the internet is bringing us closer. It's making it easier to hear one another, to listen. Attention is the real currency of the new economy. Without attention, you are just a voice shouting in the online wilderness.

We the People are the real masters of the new economy. Where we congregate, what we give our attention, that is what will matter.

I highly recommend you read that article.

Auto Install Applications

This one has me excited!  Part of my job includes installing applications on customer computers. This is incredibly time consuming and heretofore, un-automated.

Enter Ninite.

This simple services runs on Windows XP/Vista/7 and works in the background. It offers 100% hands-free installations of many of the most common software applications.

Ninite installs programs with default settings and says "no" to all browser toolbars and other junk. This alone makes this 100% worthwhile. All those browser add-ons are just a waste of precious computer resources.

If you want to see how it works, you can either:

1.  Read a step-by-step walkthrough at How-To Geek or Simple Help.
2. Just visit Ninite and start installing applications.

Great product! I am very happy to have found it.

A Single Version of the Truth

The biggest problem I encounter in most companies is too many versions of the truth.

One computer spits out one version and another gives you something else. Usually, the poor people in the business have no idea why this is happening so they just use whichever answer will make the boss happy.

But that's business suicide. It guarantees failure because you don't know the real Truth.

Every business tries to make decisions based on data. How many widgets do you need to order for next season? How much warehouse space is needed? Where is the money being spent?

The information that you pull out of the computers is analyzed and studied in the hopes that they will shed some light on a looming decision. Decision making without common, unified data is suicide.

Many business's operate with multiple islands of information. One system for the warehouse, another for sales, a third for marketing. Each of these sections operates insulated from all the others.

But what happens when you pull figures from marketing and they don't match up with those from sales? How do you reconcile the variances between the warehouse computers counts and the accounting computer?

That's why every business needs a unified version of the truth.

Example: Back in 1999, NASA's Mars Polar Lander crashed into Mars because one team did their math in Imperial Units and the other in Metric. When they exchanged their truths, no one caught the discrepancy. Two versions of an equal truth lead to a $125 million catastrophe.

You need to establish a single version of the truth for your business. This Truth will incorporate all the data from your various islands of information into a single whole. And even then, be cautious. The Truth can be slippery.

Don't Argue with Lunatics

It is inevitable - some lunatic will try to argue their craziness with you. I am convinced this is how they spread The Crazy to others.

I remember getting into towering arguments with Freddy. Inevitably, I would lose my cool and send Freddy to hell. In the end though, I would get mad at myself because I know better than to argue with a crazy person. You can't ever win.

The way I see it, you have 4 options:

1. Murder.

Kill the crazy person before their Crazy invades your brain. Granted, the police don't like this so you will get into trouble. Other than self-defense, I don't recommend this option.

2. Argue.
This is guaranteed to fail. You may beat them senseless with your brilliant logic, but their Crazy will always win. Don't argue with a crazy person. It wastes your time and riles them up. The last thing anyone needs is for crazy people to go crazy.

3. Be crazier.
I find that this works spectacularly well. I quickly agree with the crazy person...then escalate. Think of it as protecting your sanity by wrapping it in the armor of insanity. For example, if a crazy person starts talking about alien abductions, I scream about hollow earth, crop circles, the Loch Ness monster and my political support for that great American - Bigfoot!

4. Leave.
Just run for your life. Get away as fast as you can and hopefully The Crazy didn't catch.

Don't get caught in an argument with a crazy person. It's a complete waste of time. I can't tell you how often I have some nutcase who wants to argue with me. Just ignore them, or go crazier to escape with your sanity.

Free Speed Reading Trainer - Spreeder

If you have ever wanted to learn how to speed read, Spreeder is an excellent, free trainer that will help you learn how.

Simply copy and paste the text you want to read into the website and click the "spreed!" button. The website will fashion a video file of the text that will speed through the important words in the text at whatever speed you pick. I found that I could easily follow 300 words per minute without any training!

If you learn how to speed read you will finally be able to read all those valuable business books, blog posts and other useful tidbits of information that are out there.

While none of us may ever reach my wife's terrifying reading speed (800 page book in 1.5 hours!) we can all benefit from faster reading.

Let me know what you think of the site in the comments below...